March 21, 2012

Wednesday

I had a gentleman come in to the church today and ask to speak with me.

I know it's going to be an interesting conversation when I arrive in the lobby, stick my hand out to shake and the person leans in for a hug. I didn't hug him. My working in Care does not mean it's free hug wednesday.

I escorted him to the table that is off to the side of our lobby and asked him what he wanted to talk about.

Immediately he began asking personal questions about another church member. With no affect change and a very difficult attempt to not give him the inquisitive head tilt, I told him he was asking for confidential information that I could not share. I offered the fair reply, that if someone were asking similar questions about him, I would protect his information as well. Surely he would understand this, right?

Ha. Nope. He just reworded the question. Oh, I thought to myself, of course, well now that you said it that way, let me just share all the details.

He left on the note of threatening me with a subpoena. I just nodded and left him with a kind smile.

If you think working at a church is about reading the bible all day or singing hymns from page 192, it's not. It is way more colorful than that. Where else can you start with a hug and end with a threat?